Valve adjuster and driver.



L. L. RUSSELL.

VALVE ADJUSTER AND DRIVER. APPLwATLoN FILE-D MM 4. 1912. RENWED HEB. 8.1915.

Y 1,1539? 1'1 Patentedpt. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETssHm L.

E. L. RUSSELL.

VALVE ADJUSTER AND DRIVER.

APPLICATION FILED IIIAYI. 1912. REMI-:WED FEB.B.1.915.

1,158,711. y Pa1en1edSepI.14,19I5.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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L. RUSSELL, -oF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

VALVE AnJUsTEn AND DRIVER.

To all whom'z't may concern.' a

Be it knownl that I,EI' W'IN L. RUSSELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of'Michigan, haveinvented anew and use-v ful Valve Adjuster and Driver, of'which the'following is a specification.A

The object of my invention is toproduce" a driving v.connection betweena valve, or

other seated member, anditsdriving member, by means of which, uponundueres1st' anceA of the valve to movement alongiits seat, the drivingconnection will automati- -callly operate to permit' a slight "forwardmovement of the driving member relative to the valve and, by reason ofsuch movement, to thereby-operate upon the valve in such manner as tolift, or relieve, from its seat enough to diminish the resistance of thevalve' to movement alongits -seatby an amount suiicient to permit thevalve to thereupon be shifted alng its seat and to resume its normalrelationship -to the driving member'. y

The accompanying drawings illustrate that formof my=invetion which isparticularly designed for use where-the seated member and the drivingmember are rotary and substantially coaxial. i

Figure l is an axial section yof an embodi'` vment' of my invention ofsuch form as to operate with equal facility; and inthe same manner, ineither direction of.` rotation of the driving member; Fig. 2 isa sideeleva-` Fig. 4.

` In both Figs. 1 andy 4, 10 indicatesian axially tapered rotary valveseated in a eorrespondingly tapered casing o r seat 11, but

itwill be understood that4 Vthe type of valve and associated seatmay lbevariously changed without departing from my invention. In this form ofthe invention the, valve is to be'driven rotatively by a shaft 12 which,is arranged in'substantialalinement withthe valve and is held againstaxial movement by any sultable means, such, for

instance, as flanges 13 and a casing 14.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. ,1, 2 and 3 I form a tubeof twonested helices Specicatin -of Letters Patent.

201, 201, 'these helices having a righthandy pitch. I also provide atube formed 4of two nested helices 202, 202 which have a vleft- -landpitch conveniently lthe same,V as vto' t e-twotubes are anchored toshaft 12 while the upper ends are anchored to the valve 10, the twotubes being substantially coaxial with the valve Aand driving shaft. Forconi, venience `1n manufacture, I find that the" upper endsjof'the tubesmay be anchored to' a .plug 203 provided with a thin depending f annularflange 201 which lies between 'and serves to space thel upper ends ofthe two tubes. Plug 203 is then connected to-"valve in any suitablemanner as by being seated within a pocket 18 formed in thevalve and theplug heldin place byacross pin 205.

The helices201 and 202 are made of such lmaterial 'as to form springshaving resilience" ratentea'sept. 14,1915.v Application led May 4, 1912,Serial No. 695,213. Renewed February 8, 1915. Serial No. 6,805. I

both axially and radially. 'When the parts are assembled the shaft 12willbe so` ad-'j justed axially thatI the axial springforce of thehelices will act upon the .valve 10 to:

hold it into or upon its seat although, infso adjusting the shaft 12, Ithink it preferable of lthehelices.

If shaft -12 be rotated in -the direction- `indicated by .the'- arrowinFig, 1, the outer helices 201 will be putunder tension and the Yinner-helices 202 will b eput under compression. Rotation of the shaftin the opposite direction will, of course, reverse thestresses in thetwo pairs of helices 'and lin either dis rection-of rotation ofthe shaftthe `valve will be primarily driven by those helices which areundertension rather than those -which rotative movement) the lower turnsof the helices under tension will slip beneath the superposed turns and[both by a cam action and also because of the 'resultant decrease ofdiameter at the middle (of the tub'e formed not to `materially separatethe convolutions *to the valve.

by the helices) andthe-,consequent increase oflen h] `Will drive thevalve upwardly away rom'its seat until itis relieved therefrom,whereupon the resiliencefof the helices g, 'will advance the valve intoits proper .and Vnormal relationship with the shaft. v The axialmovement of the valve is, in

most/ nstances, so's'mall as to be almost invisiblebutfthere is,nevertheless, under all .conditlons an initial decrease of force actingaxially upon the valve to hold it to its seaty and, if. thisl meredecrease is not suiiicient there will, ofcourse, come a time, when-`ever thereisa `forward advancement of the shaftsindependent of thevalve, when the cam action ofthe convolutions of the helices upon'feachother will actually increase 1 thel axial length ofthe tubes and thusforce the valve positvely from its seat.. It will be-noticedthat: theaction above described `will 1 take. place". in either directionii`movement of the shaft 1'2- and thetmec'harnsm is there- Y fore speciallyapplicable'for use 'in driving rotary;l valves for gas engines, a1rcompressors\,1fetc'aszthefdriving mechanism can be given 'verygreatLaxia-l stiffness, to withstand any-effectofthe exploded gasestending to 'I lift thevalvefrom its seat without, however, v

actively operating upon' the valve to vdrive it to its sea-twith suchforce as to' cause undue Vwear or unnecessary sticking.

The 'form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 similar tothe 'form already describedbut comprises only one set of helices 116 which are 'shown as beingformed by helically slit-.- "ting a tube 115 into two helical and nestedspring llingers which, after formation are compressed axially.l so as tobe closely nested.4

The tube 115 is 'anchored to shaft 112 and the" ends ofthespringzsfingersare anchored rotated, if the valve oifers undueresistance-to rotation, there will be a .slight advancement of the shaft12 relative to the Avalve, thus causing\the shaft ends :of the helicesto be moved forwardly and slide beneath the 'ladjacent convolutions. i,This action not only produces an axial elongation of thehelices by thecam action of the interengagmg convolutions but also causes a reductionof diameter of the tube at the middle of its length, thus operating toaxially elongate the tube or helices. If there should be'a reversal ofrotation of the shaft 12, there shouldl be a yieldingconnection betweenthe shaft and the power. It is to be understood, however,.that thelifting of the valve from its'seat, ineither direction of rotation ofthe shaft doesv not take place unless therefisabnormal resistance ofthevalve movementalong lits seat. .o

1 In the formshown inFig. 1, it is convenient to provide .the shaft 12with an upwardly extended portion which projects into the bore of theplug 205.4

I claim'as my invention: v

1. The combination `of a seatmember, a seated -member associatedrotatably. thereshaft, and a driving connection between the shaftl andseated member comprlslng two oppositely pitched. helical spring members,

the turns of each of said members being closel)1 associated. andeach ofsaidinen'ibers being secured at one endto the driver and at the other'end to the seated member, the

adjacent helical lfaces coacting to'lift the'` i positely pitchedhelical `spring members,

leach of said spring members comprising a plurality of lclosely nestedhelices and each of said helices being secured at one end to the driverand ,atv the other.' end to the seated member, the adjacent helicalfaces ,coacting v to lift the valve from its seat.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at indianapolis,Indiana, this 22nd day of April, D. onefthousand nine hundred andtwelve.. t

75 with, an axially fixed rotatable driving j

